Chelsea could rely on Christian Pulisic and Kai Havertz for goals with misfiring Romelu Lukaku rested. (More Football News)
The London club resumed its Champions League title defense by cruising to a 2-0 victory over Lille on Tuesday to take control of the round of 16 matchup heading into next month바카라s second leg.
Relishing an attacking role, Havertz took only eight minutes to head Chelsea in front by meeting Hakim Ziyech바카라s corner.
바카라We have a lot of good strikers, so it is also good to have a change and not make it easy for the opposition,바카라 Havertz said. 바카라Today it worked good and I enjoy every forward position.바카라
The second in the 63rd minute was created by the dynamism of N바카라Golo Kante, who ran half the length of the pitch unchallenged before feeding Pulisic to finish with a shot clipped into the bottom corner.
바카라When N바카라Golo is driving like that, it바카라s just a question of keeping up with him,바카라 Pulisic said, 바카라and I managed to do that and finish it off.바카라
Kante바카라s contribution particularly pleased Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.
바카라He바카라s struggled with belief and intensity in recent matches so it was good he stepped up today,바카라 Tuchel said. 바카라You can see how big an impact he has when he바카라s in good shape.바카라
The ease of Chelsea바카라s victory reflected their status this season. While Chelsea is third in the Premier League, Lille is mid-table in its French title defense.
바카라We lacked a little quality in the final ball and that cost us,바카라 Lille forward Jonathan David said.
Tuchel said fatigue was the reason for leaving out Lukaku, the club-record $135 million offseason signing who touched the ball only seven times in Saturday바카라s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. Lukaku didn바카라t come off the bench against Lille.
바카라After the match where everyone was focused on his few touches ... it was not the moment to put him into the next fire,바카라 Tuchel said. 바카라It was the moment to take a step back, that was the decision and that바카라s it.
바카라We have now had a strong win and a strong performance. We have now had a good win and all the questions are still about Romelu, so the focus is huge.바카라
And it바카라s easier to rest Lukaku when there바카라s another forward who cost over $90 million to be able to rely on. Havertz, who scored Chelsea바카라s winner in the Champions League final last season, also scored the goal that sealed the Club World Cup title earlier this month.
바카라He has really stepped up,바카라 Tuchel said. 바카라His work rate is immense, and the volume, the areas of the pitch that he covers for us is very, very good. He was again decisive, he created chances, got involved and was never shy of defending.
바카라We played with a very aggressive high line with Hakim, with all three offensive players together. It was the formation to have intensity, and a high work rate consistently throughout the whole match and they all did very well.바카라
In the night바카라s other first leg, Dusan Vlahovic scored 31 seconds into his Champions League debut as Juventus drew 1-1 at Villarreal, which leveled through Dani Parejo in the second half.
